Medieval Black Death Was Probably Not Bubonic Plague

Science Daily ^ | Posted 4/15/2002 | Penn State

[randog]

“The symptoms of the Black Death included high fevers, fetid breath, coughing, vomiting of blood and foul body odor,”...

They all died of really, really bad hangovers.

[Gladwin]

Landspeed? Then you rule out the aid of African swallows. With that speed, one would suspect Acme roller skates. :)

As we all know, African swallows are laden with coconuts.

[mcsparkie]

I am a little curious what they think could be the Black Death, if it wasn't bubonic plague.

Today it would be called AIDS.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[PatrickHenry]

It is no longer socially acceptable to call this plague the "Black Death." That obsolete term has been superseded by "Great Society Death."

[EBUCK]

That's two african swallows with a coconut strung between them. Otherwise, as has been proven, the coconuts could not have reached their destination.

EBUCK

[scholar]

Science is about examining what you "know," and finding out what you only thought you knew.

No argument there--but anthropologists are not epidemiologists.

[Gladwin]

It is simple then, they would use some strand of creeper.

[jude24]

I'm not even certain anthropology is science...

[Nebullis]

Thanks for the ping!

As far as I know, the plague has been confirmed in skeletons of the early Black Death period as well as skeletons of later suspected plague epidemics. It's beyond me how anyone would think that historical notes of clinical symptoms would trump direct DNA evidence.

[farmfriend]

ping

[scholar]

I'm not even certain anthropology is science...

While I'm sure that anthropology has brought some important understanding of things past, they are making inferences from things long gone.

While an epidemiologist deals with empirical evidence based on currently observed disease patterns, examining the dead and dying and observing the offending disease bearing microganisms through cultures and under microscopic examintation.

[EBUCK]

I remember seeing the same evidence but couldn't find any reference/proof. Can you?

I searched the CDC site and some British med-sites but came up craps.EBUCK

[EBUCK]

Black Knight: "No creeper shall pass!!!

EBUCK

[Physicist]

In the case of pneumonic, the patient has bubonic and some respiratory disease simultaneously, causing the cough droplets to be infected with y. pestis as well. The deadliest and most scary form of the disease is actually septicaemic plague.

Yes, and that's the key. Some of the surviving descriptions of some of the cases are consistent with diagnoses of pneumonic and septicaemic plague, so I don't know how they can rule out Y. pestis.

[Black Agnes]

True, and it's been shown that patients infected with septicaemic plague could have concentrations of plague in their blood stream sufficient to infect any fleas that bit them and subsequently infect others. (pardon scary english, i'm in a hurry...).

[Jimmy Valentine]

Medical diagnosis that came down from that era:

"Ring around the rosy,

Pocket full of posies

Ashes, ashes,

We all fall down".

Regards,

[wimpycat]

I know what the problem is with this research. The researchers consist of a couple of graduate students and anthropology professers at Penn State, plus a few others, and the source of this article is Penn State. There isn't one medical expert of any kind named as being involved in this research. No epidemiologists or even forensic pathologists.